Given the soft visitor numbers, it came as no surprise that revenue per available room (RevPAR) for January slipped 1.2% y-o-y to $220, says Lim.
Ongoing disruptions in the Middle East airspace, which is causing significant flight delays and cancellations, as well as a surge in airfares, may weigh on tourist arrivals in Singapore, says OCBC Group Research analyst Ada Lim. This comes on top of an 8.1% y-o-y drop in visitors to 1.5 million in January.
That said, the extent and severity is heavily dependent on how long the conflict persists, and corresponding spillover to macroeconomic conditions. A potential mitigating factor is that Singapore’s top five source markets — China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Australia and India — constituted 54.9% of total visitor arrivals in 2025, adds Lim in a March 6 note.
